Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2015
273. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme plus payment for hen harrier designated lands in the sum of €370 per hectare is not payable on commonage lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39226/15]
View answerThe vast majority of the specific GLAS actions are designed to be delivered on privately-owned land. This is because they require complete control of the land in question and the ability of the farmer to deliver quite complex actions independently. Under the European Union regulations GLAS payments must be justified based on income foregone and the cost of compliance. In the case of hen harrier payment, the bulk of the €370 payment is based on income foregone, resulting from reduced productivity as a result of reduced application of fertiliser.
None of this would be relevant to commonage land, which is not systematically fertilised or expected to yield a crop. On commonage land the payment is based on the cost of having a commonage management plan prepared and on the implementation of that plan, largely through a controlled grazing regime. The plan is expected to take account of important habitats present on the commonage and to provide for their conservation. Because of the additional requirement for groups of farmers to work together to deliver a successful commonage management plan, the payment rate under GLAS for commonage land increased significantly to €120 per hectare from the €75 per hectare previously paid under AEOS.
